Malfunction Indicator Lamp - A/T: Description and Operation
DESCRIPTION OF ON-BOARD DIAGNOSISWhen troubleshooting OBD II vehicles, the only difference from the usual troubleshooting procedure is that you connect to the vehicle the OBD II scan tool complying with SAE J1978 or TOYOTA hand-held tester, and read off various data output from the vehicle's ECM.
OBD II regulations require that the vehicle's on-board computer lights up the Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) on the instrument panel when the computer detects a malfunction in the emission control system/components or in the powertrain control components which affect vehicle emissions, or a malfunction in the computer. In addition to the MIL lighting up when a malfunction is detected, the applicable Diagnostic Trouble Code (DTC) prescribed by SAE J2012 are recorded in the ECM memory.
If the malfunction does not reoccur in 3 consecutive trips, the MIL goes oft automatically but the DTCs remain recorded in the ECM memory.